Plane not visible with DirectionalLight

Question

I'm just starting with java 3d and I'm having some problems with the behaviors of lights.
I have several planes which are made with QuadArray and I want them to be lit with a directional light.
When I use AmbientLight there is no problem, but when I use a DirectionalLight, PointLight or SpotLight, the planes stay black. I think it has something to do with direction or material, but after trying several changes still no succes.
Could someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong. The code below shows only one plane, to make things shorter.
// This is the constructur of my testapp, creates a simple universe, adds the //planes and adds them to the scene, also the view is positioned a few meters //back
public Test3D()
     SimpleUniverse u = new SimpleUniverse();
     BranchGroup bgRoot = new BranchGroup();
     // creer de achtergrond
     u.addBranchGraph( createBackGround() );
     // Creer de grond
     BranchGroup boxBg = createFloor();
     // de muren
     BranchGroup wanden = createWalls();
     // de achterwand
     BranchGroup achterWand = createBackWall();
     //Het podium
     TransformGroup stageTg = createStage();
     // Creer viewingplatform
     TransformGroup viewTg = null;
     Transform3D T3D = new Transform3D();
     viewTg = u.getViewingPlatform().getViewPlatformTransform();
     T3D.setTranslation( new Vector3d( 0.0, 1.0, 23.0 ) );
     viewTg.setTransform( T3D );
     bgRoot.addChild( boxBg );
     bgRoot.addChild( wanden );
     bgRoot.addChild( achterWand );
     bgRoot.addChild( stageTg );
     addLights( bgRoot );
     u.addBranchGraph( bgRoot );
// Here one plane is created ( the floor ), the colors are set with setColor()
// but I have also tried it with the material-properties
public BranchGroup createFloor()
     // Maak een QuadArray aan met vier hoeken welke de bodem wordt
     QuadArray floorArray = new QuadArray( 4, QuadArray.COORDINATES | QuadArray.COLOR_3 | QuadArray.NORMALS );
     floorArray.setCoordinate( 0, new Point3f( -12.0f, -1.50f, -12.0f ) );
     floorArray.setCoordinate( 1, new Point3f( -12.0f, -1.5f, 7.0f ) );
     floorArray.setCoordinate( 2, new Point3f( 12.0f, -1.5f, 7.0f ) );
     floorArray.setCoordinate( 3, new Point3f( 12.0f, -1.5f, -12.0f ) );
     Color3f green = new Color3f( 0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f );
     Color3f black = new Color3f( 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f );
     Color3f blue = new Color3f( 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.8f );
     floorArray.setColor( 0, green );
     floorArray.setColor( 1, green );
     floorArray.setColor( 2, green );
     floorArray.setColor( 3, green );
     Appearance app = new Appearance();
     //PolygonAttributes poly = new PolygonAttributes( );
     //poly.setBackFaceNormalFlip(true);
     Material material = new Material();
     material.setLightingEnable( true );
     material.setCapability( Material.ALLOW_COMPONENT_READ | Material.ALLOW_COMPONENT_WRITE );
     app.setMaterial( material );
     //app.setPolygonAttributes( poly );
     BranchGroup floorBg = new BranchGroup();
     floorBg.addChild( new Shape3D( floorArray, app ) );
     return floorBg;
// Here are the lights added, it a bit of a mess but I wanted to try about
// everything possible, the only lights added now are the directional-lights and
// ambient lights, the spotlight is not added.
public void addLights( BranchGroup bgRoot )
     Color3f color = new Color3f( 0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f );
     Vector3f direction = new Vector3f( 0.0f, -1.0f, 0.0f );
     Color3f shadeColor = new Color3f( 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f );
     Color3f amColor = new Color3f( 0.1f, 0.1f, 0.3f );
     DirectionalLight dlLight = new DirectionalLight( shadeColor, direction );
     dlLight.setEnable( true );
     dlLight.setInfluencingBounds( getBoundingSphere() );
     AmbientLight amLight = new AmbientLight(amColor );
     amLight.setInfluencingBounds( getBoundingSphere() );
     System.out.println( "in addlights" );
     SpotLight light = new SpotLight();
     light.setColor( color );
     light.setEnable( true );
     light.setSpreadAngle( 10 * (float)Math.PI / 180.0f );
     //light.setSpreadAngle( 200 );
     light.setDirection( direction );
     light.setConcentration( 80 );
     light.setPosition( 0.0f, 2.0f, 0.0f );
     light.setInfluencingBounds( getBoundingSphere() );
     light.setCapability( Light.ALLOW_COLOR_READ );
     light.setCapability( Light.ALLOW_COLOR_WRITE );
     light.setCapability( Light.ALLOW_INFLUENCING_BOUNDS_READ );
     light.setCapability( Light.ALLOW_INFLUENCING_BOUNDS_WRITE );
     light.setCapability( Light.ALLOW_SCOPE_READ );
     light.setCapability( Light.ALLOW_SCOPE_WRITE );
     light.setCapability( Light.ALLOW_STATE_READ );
     light.setCapability( Light.ALLOW_STATE_WRITE );
     light.setCapability( SpotLight.ALLOW_CONCENTRATION_READ );
     light.setCapability( SpotLight.ALLOW_CONCENTRATION_WRITE );
     light.setCapability( SpotLight.ALLOW_DIRECTION_READ );
     light.setCapability( SpotLight.ALLOW_DIRECTION_WRITE );
     light.setCapability( SpotLight.ALLOW_SPREAD_ANGLE_READ );
     light.setCapability( SpotLight.ALLOW_SPREAD_ANGLE_WRITE );
     //bgRoot.addChild( light );
     bgRoot.addChild( dlLight );
     bgRoot.addChild(amLight );
// The boundings
BoundingSphere getBoundingSphere()
     return new BoundingSphere( new Point3d(0.0, 0.0, 0.0 ), 100.0 );
Thanks in advance.
Silvio

Answer 1

Hi
I just saw your code. I am curious if your planes ar visible when view from both faces. For some reason my planesa are visible only when looked upon facing one face. when I rotate to face the second face the plane goes invisible. Please let me know if you solved it.
Thankyou
Venkat